Two debates highlight Franco-German differences

Last week, the two top candidates to be the next president of the European Commission went head to head in two separate debates, in French and German, each televised nationally. The discussions focused on the anxieties of the respective populations, revealing more about the difference between the two countries than about divergences in the views of the candidates.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the nominee of the centre-right European People’s Party, and Martin Schulz, the nominee of the centre-left Party of European Socialists, met in Cologne on Thursday (8 May). Their debate, aired on Germany’s ZDF and Austria’s ORF, explored at length the crisis in Ukraine, but no major differences emerged between the candidates’ views.

Schulz was challenged about the role of Gerhard Schröder, a former German chancellor and leader of Schulz’s party, the SPD, who now works on behalf of Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, and in defence he offered the thought that “Schröder has urged Putin to demand the release of OSCE monitors” – kidnapped the week before.

When enlargement was discussed, the most striking feature was the candidates’ shared doubts about opening accession talks with Turkey. Other topics that came up in the German debate included the financial transaction tax, interest rates, food safety and an EU minimum wage.

The French debate, five days later, and aired on national news station LCI, focused on broad areas of concern to the French public – notably free trade, immigration and the French economy. Perceptible differences between the candidates emerged over how much time France should be given to get its public finances in order: “There is no reason to extend the time,” insisted Juncker, while Schulz suggested more leniency. “In case it is necessary, yes [the Commission under a Schulz presidency] will provide additional time to France,” he said. “This is why friends of Mr Juncker in Germany have called me a traitor.”

When discussion turned to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, both candidates adopted a more sceptical tone towards it than they had used in their German debate. Schulz called for suspension of the negotiations during the elections and for public access to the terms of the negotiations, while Juncker said the agreement must be made in co-operation with the European Parliament. The two also concurred in rejecting any redefinition of the Schengen area of EU passport-free travel – which had been proposed by previous French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

“There is nothing to reform, Schengen works very well,” said Schulz. Juncker agreed, urging attention instead to strengthening the EU’s external borders.

Both men are fluent in German and French, and they seemed more comfortable and confident than they have in their English-language debates – with Juncker flaunting his credentials as a former prime minister and highlighting Schulz’s lack of executive experience.

A group debate in English took place on Friday night (9 May) with two other candidates – Guy Verhofstadt of the Liberals and José Bové of the Greens, and a debate between all five candidates – including the populist Greek politician Alexis Tsipras of the European Left – will take place tonight (15 May) in Brussels.

It will be aired on public television broadcasters in 15 member states.